Essay on Judicial Mandates Regarding Prisoners & Detenues !
The Supreme Court in its endeavour to ensure distributive justice in prisons has upheld the fundamental rights of detenues and prisoners in prison settings. The judicial mandates dealing with some of these aspects may be stated as follows:—
(1) The prison administrators have no power to add additional punishment to the punishment imposed by the Court even though it could have been solely imposed by that court itself, but has in fact, not been so imposed.
(2) A prisoner sentenced to capital punishment might be kept in separate cell only “after the sentence becomes executable”. But even in the separate cell, unless there are special circumstances, he must be kept within the sight and sound of other prisoners and be able to take food in their company.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(3) Prisoners ‘under sentence of death’ shall not be denied amenities of games, newspapers, moving around and meeting prisoners and visitors subject to reasonable regulation of prison management.
(4) Solitary confinement cannot be inflicted except in extreme cases of necessity specifically made out by the jail authorities. A prisoner under the sentence of death can be inflicted and imposed solitary confinement only in view of the safety of the prisoner and the security of the prison.
(5) If a prisoner desires loneliness for reflection and remorse, for prayers and making peace with his maker or opportunities for meeting family or friends, such facilities should be liberally granted.
(6) Undertrials should be accorded more relaxed conditions than convicts. They are not under sentence of imprisonment but only under custody.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(7) An undertrial prisoner, when transported from the prison to the Court should not be handcuffed. However, in extreme cases, where the hand-cuffs hare to be put on the prisoner, the escorting authority must record reasons for doing so.
(8) The term hard labour has to receive a humane touch. The punishment of rigorous imprisonment obliges the inmates to do hard labour but not harsh labour. The prisoner cannot demand soft jobs but may reasonably be assigned congenial jobs.
(9) The right to the society of fellowmen, parents and other family members cannot be denied in the light of Article 19. However, it is subject to search, discipline and other security reasons.
(10) A detenue is entitled to have interview with his legal adviser after taking appointment from the superintendent of the jail. In case of COFEPOSA detenues, a custom or jail official may watch the interview but he should not be within the hearing distance of the detenue and the legal adviser.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(11) An accused has the right to sit down in the Court during the trial especially in long and arduous cases, unless it is necessary for the accused to stand up for identification. This facility is not against the established practice that everyone in the Court should stand when the presiding officer enters.
(12) Undertrials are not to be kept in leg-irons, nor can be asked to work outside the jail walls. This would be in flagrant violations of prison regulations and contrary to I.L.O. conventions against forced labour.
(13) In order to reduce mental tensions among the prisoners, the prison authorities should provide for vital links between the prisoner and his family by periodically granting parole. However, the granting of parole for reasonable spells is subject to sufficient safeguards ensuring their proper behaviour outside and prompt return inside.
(14) No prisoner can be personally subjected ю deprivations not necessitated by the fact of incarceration and the sentence of the Court. All other freedoms belong to him, such as to read and write, to exercise and recreation, to meditation and chant, to comforts like protection from extreme cold and heat, to freedom from indignities, like compulsory nudity, forced sodomy and other unbearable vulgarity, to movement within the prison campus subject to requirements of discipline and security, to the minimal joys of self-expression, to acquire skill and techniques and all other fundamental rights tailored to the limitations of imprisonment.
(15) The press and media persons should be allowed to interview prisoners sentenced to death if they are willing to do so, unless weighty reasons to the contrary exist.
(16) Prior to the execution of any death sentence, the Jail Superintendent should personally ascertain whether the sentence of death imposed upon any of the co-accused who was due to be hanged, has been commuted. If so, the Superintendent should apprise the superior authorities of the matter who in turn, should take prompt steps for bringing the matter to the notice of the Court concerned.
(17) The commutation of the sentence of death into life imprisonment cannot be demanded by the condemned prison as a matter of right.
(18) A prisoner whether undertrial or convict has a right to legal assistance and that must be made available to him in jail.